The federal government said Thursday that it is putting in place measures that would help address the spread of Lassa fever in the country.
This was disclosed by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos state while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the monthly National Economic Council (NEC) meeting chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
He said the Minister of Health, Dr Ehanire Osagie, told NEC that 103 cases of the disease were confirmed in the last one month in 18 states, with 11 fatalities recorded.
“In the last one month, we have got a total of 103 confirmed cases nationwide and we’ve got 13 deaths and the cases are in 18 states.
“Of all these confirmed cases, about 72 percent of them are prevalent in Edo, Ondo and Ebonyi states so the Ministry of Health and the federal government are concentrating on these three major states,” he said.
He said NEC was also briefed that the disease was being well-managed and there was a drop of 15 percent in the spread of the disease.
He said government is not relenting in ensuring that the country gets Wold Health Organisation’s certification as a polio-free nation, which would also extend to the entire African continent.
The governor also told journalists the Minister of Health briefed NEC on the corona virus (CONVID 19), stressing that the federal government working hard on how to contain the virus in case it creeps into the country.
He said 11 suspected cases were all negative after conducting the necessary tests.
“In Nigeria, the good news is that yet there has been a total of 11 suspected cases but all turned out to be negative.
“Infact there was a scare in Lagos State concerning two suspected cases on Wednesday but all have been confirmed negative.
“But Nigeria still places itself on high risk as advised by the World Health Organisation and so both the federal government and all the States are looking at all of the major international airports;Abuja, Lagos, Kano and Port-Harcourt, that we have as our major entry points and the alert on these airports is very high,” he said.
He said all state governments have been told to have different levels of sectoral preparedness to contain any eventuality.
